


Doing It All Again

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Happiness Can't Be Arranged [13]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, OQ Prompt Party 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 15:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19065007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Robin and Regina tell the kids that they're expecting another babyWritten for OQ Prompt Party and based on th prompt that asked for Robin and Regina to have a late-in-life pregnancy.





	Doing It All Again

Regina frowns as she looks at herself in the mirror, turning from side to side as she pulls the fabric of her robe against her body. She's reached that awkward stage of pregnancy where none of her clothes quite fit the way that they should, and it makes her miss the high, empire waistlines of years past.

Still, she couldn't believe that any of this was happening. She was happy, of course, but it seemed a bit surreal. Her oldest child was a father himself to a beautiful brown-eyed girl called Lucy and the baby of the family was sixteen and set to be presented at court later that coming spring-and at the thought of that, she grimaces, letting go of the fabric of her robe as she turns away from the mirror. She hadn't considered that yet-by April, she'll be heavily pregnant. She's never much cared about the traditions that governed their social set; however, Charlotte was her only daughter and she was excited about the prospect of presenting her-and more important than her own feelings about the matter, Charlotte was excited.

Sighing, she sits down at her dressing table and pulls out a pair of cream colored gloves and chooses a pearl-studded comb for her hair-a piece that will match almost anything.

Her eyes shift up as the bedroom door opens and she turns, expecting to see Belle; but instead, Robin enters.

"You look disappointed," he says, chuckling softly as he flops back on the bed, fully dressed and ready for dinner. "And… you're still in your robe," he murmurs, turning his head on the bed to look at her. "I thought you'd be dressed by now."

Frowning, she rolls her eyes. "Belle had to let out the waist of my dress."

"Ah-"

"That's four now."

"She should just… do them all one day."

Sighing, Regina nods. She hates that idea. "Maybe."

"Or Ruby could make you a few things-"

"That'll need to be let out in a month or so?"

He grins, trying to be empathetic. "Or she could make new things-"

"Again?"

"Why not?"

Regina shrugs and turns back to her dressing table. "It just seems like a waste."

"It's not a waste. You need things to wear."

Taking a breath, she nods. That's a fair point-and it would save her the disappointment that came each time something that had fit so perfectly before was now too snug to even fasten. "Maybe," she sighs as a grin pulls onto her lips. "Or I could just go down to dinner in my robe."

Robin chuckles softly. "Well, I can't say that I'd be opposed to that, but I think the kids might have a thing or two to say about it."

She laughs, thinking of Charlotte's reaction in particular. "Well, it's the first time in a long time we'll have them all under one roof and I think one shock is enough for one night," she says, rising from the bench in front of the dressing table. "Will you help me get dressed since Belle's working a small miracle with my dress? Henry's train is due in an hour and I don't want to push dinner back any longer."

Robin nods, rolling off the bed, and together, they walk into the dressing room. He stands behind her as she fishes out her petticoats and a fresh chemise, and then she pulls out the box where her new corset lies in wait.

"Speaking of a waste," she murmurs, lifting it from the box. "Belle bought this home for me today."

Robin's brow furrows. "What… is that? I don't remember you having to wear anything like that before."

"It's a maternity corset," she tells him, frowning as she looks at the garment in her hands. "It appears my mother's been reincarnated into an article of clothing."

He offers a wry laugh as he takes it to examine-and then, after a couple of minutes, he looks up at her, perplexed. "How… are your supposed to…" His voice trails off and he flips it upside down. "What is it supposed to…" A little chuckle escapes her as he flips it right side up. "Is this safe? It looks like some sort of medieval torture device."

"Well, if I don't fit into my dress after Belle's let out the waist, this will ensure that I do fit into it."

Robin's eyes widen. "At that point, I'd prefer you just to wear your robe. The kids will survive the scandal."

By the time Belle returns she's changed her chemise, put on three petticoats to give her skirt a bit of shape, put on the cream gloves. Belle laughs at the sight of her as she takes Robin's place in the dressing room, and from the corner of her eye, she watches him flop back on the bed-and it's only then that she realizes he's taken the corset with him, still trying to figure it out.

To her relief, the navy blue and lace dress now fits-without the corset beneath it-and once she's in the dress, it doesn't take much longer to get ready.

She and Robin make their way downstairs just as Henry is arriving.

Roland, Oliver and Charlotte rush to greet him, and after giving his siblings a round of hugs, he moves to hug his mother. She pulls him close, hugging him as tightly as possible-and though this time it goes unsaid, she hates that he lives so far away.

They make their way into the dining room, and for a while, she's content to sit back and listen to her children catch up with each other, picking right where they left off the last time they were all together. She's missed the playful banter and teasing, she missed the way they'd randomly team up against one another and how they'd laugh until their stomachs hurt over the most petulant things.

Since Henry moved out the year before, the house has seemed emptier-and no one felt that loss more than Roland.

"You should've brought Ella and Lucy," Roland complains. "Then you'd have been able to say a while longer."

Henry sighs and cracks a smug grin. "Or you could finally move down to Sherwood and be closer." Roland's arms fold. The fact that he's twenty-five and unmarried is beginning to grate on his nerves-though his bachelorhood didn't bother him in the last until Henry and Ella left. "It might make you a bit more enticing to the ladies, you know, having a place of your own."

Roland's eyes roll. "The house would be awfully lonely." His face scrunches. "Besides, I'm positive grandfather's haunting the place. He wouldn't let it go that easily."

"Then come to Dragon Head. Stay for awhile. Ella wouldn't mind, and I could use the help. I don't think I ever realized just how much work an estate like that is."

"I told you," Robin says, smirking as he cocks his brow.

Henry grins. "Still, I underestimated the weight of those obligations."

For a moment, Roland considers it. "The only thing worse than being haunted by my own grandfather is by being haunted by your grandmother."

Henry's eyes roll. "Neither house is haunted. That's an excuse."

Roland's arms fold. "I won't live at Sherwood alone-"

"You wouldn't have to. Dragon Head has more than enough space."

Charlotte's eyes roll as she looks to Oliver. "It's like we don't exist."

Oliver nods, looking between his older brothers. "Hasn't it always been this way, though?"

Roland looks sharply at him. "You act like I didn't spend an entire week with you hunting pheasants."

"Well, I didn't get to go," Charlotte frowns. "I never do."

"Because you're a child," Oliver says, grinning smugly as her jaw drops. "Children don't get to-"

"I'm less than a year younger than you. If I'm a child, so are you."

"It's different for boys," Oliver says, knowing the comment will get under his sister's skin. "The rules are different. It's a fact of life."

Charlotte's face reddens as she launches into a speech they've all heard before-singing the virtues of Princess Victoria, Heiress to the Throne, and the bluestockings whose pamphlets she collects and religiously reads, and then, just as she's getting her point across, her arms fold and her eyes narrow as she petulantly reminds Oliver that she's always been the smarter of the two and he's just jealous.

And from there, she and Oliver begin to bicker.

Robin groans. "I think now's a good time to tell them," he mutters, looking over at her.

"And ruin such a happy dinner?"

He smirks. "It'll shut them up."

"Or turn  _that_ onto us."

"Remember how cute they used to be?"

Regina sighs, nodding. "Do you think we could ship all four back to Dragon Head?"

He grins. "It seems like Henry needs their help. We'd be doing everyone a favor."

Regina laughs-and then suddenly, all four children are looking at them.

"You two seem awfully giggly," Henry says, grinning at them. "Usually when we get this way, it has the opposite effect."

"We've finally worn them down," Roland says, laughing softly to himself. "It only took a couple of decades."

"Or they're plotting something," Henry says, looking between his siblings.

Charlotte's eyes widen as she looks between her brothers. "The last time they did that, Oliver and I ended up shadowing the maids and learning to polish the floor."

Robin beams at the memory. "It builds character."

Oliver sighs. "I'd rather clean the fireplaces every day than listen to Charlotte whine about it-"

"I burned myself," Charlotte interjects, looking across the table at her brother. "It hurt."

"You're the idiot who touched a-"

"Alright, alright," Robin calls out, raising his voice over them. "We actually do have something to tell you."

Regina frowns as she looks to him. "I was excited… and then I remember  _this_ is what they grow into."

That catches all four children's attention.

"What… do you mean?" Oliver asks, looking to Charlotte as if silently asking if she heard their mother's comment, too-and then, as he looks between his siblings, his face falls. They all heard it.

"Well, we weren't quite sure how to tell you," Regina begins. "It's… all quite unexpected."

Charlotte looks away, looking down at her plate. "Oh god…"

"I'm pregnant," Regina says. "I'm due in the early summer."

"That's…" Henry blinks, looking to Roland who is sitting back with his arms folded as if they've all started speaking in Latin or some other language he doesn't understand. "That's… um… great," he says, shifting his eyes to Oliver and Charlotte. "Isn't it?"

Oliver clears his throat. "Um, sure-"

"Summer," Charlotte says, her eyes widening. "Mom, no. No, that's right before-"

"I know," Regina sighs, frowning as she thinks of her daughter's coming out party, an event that's been in the words for months already. "I mean, it'd be a little odd, but I could still present you or you could wait another-"

"Oh my god, this is going to be so embarrassing." Her eyes press closed. "How is this even possible?"

"Well, Charlotte," Oliver begins, clearing his throat. "If you're so smart, you should be able to figure out-"

"Wait, if you're due in early summer," Henry begins, cutting in and looking to her. "That means…" His eyes press closed and her eyes slide to Robin. They were both hoping that Henry wouldn't connect those dots, that he wouldn't realize his newest sibling was very likely conceived when she and Robin traveled to Dragon Head for Lucy's christening. "I… don't think I can ever walk into that room again," he mutters, looking to Roland.

"It… might not have been there," Robin tells him. It's supposed to make Henry feel better, but it does the opposite. "On the way home there was a rain storm and-"

"Please stop," Oliver says. "I… don't think any of us want to know the details."

"I'm just clarifying-"

"How is this possible?" Charlotte asks again, this time looking directly to her. "You're… a grandmother."

Regina nods, sighing as she shakes her head. "Well, I was a young mother and-"

"Now you're going to be an old one," Charlotte spats.

Sighing, Regina looks to Robin-and he laughs softly. They'd expected this, and truly, the things their children were saying were all things they'd themselves thought as they worked through the feelings about it.

"Well, I think it's great," Roland says, finally, looking to his parents. "Really. I'm happy for both of you."

Robin's eyes narrow. "Is this what's going to push you to move out?"

"No," Roland laughs. "But the next time I'm in town, I am going to pick up a whole box of ear plugs. If Oliver and Charlotte are any indication, this kid is going to spend the first year of its life screaming like a banshee."

Oliver smirks. "Charlotte stills does."

Charlotte's eyes narrow, but she says nothing.

"So, um… that's that," Regina says. "You'll all have a new sibling in the summer."

For a moment, no one says anything. Then, it's Henry who breaks the silence. "And… everything's okay?" he asks. "You've seen Doctor Hopper? The baby's healthy?"

Regina nods. "Both Doctor Hopper and Mrs. Beakley have given me and the baby a clean bill of health."

"That's good," Henry says.

"It is," both Roland and Oliver echo.

"Um, while I'm here, can I… help with anything?"

Regina looks to Robin, who shrugs and then she shakes her head before looking back to their oldest son who is clearly uncomfortable, but doing his best to set an example for his younger siblings. "No, I think… I think we're all set. All of Oliver and Charlotte's baby things are packed away upstairs. We just have to set up a nursery, and the footmen and maids will do most of that." She grins. "I'm just glad to have you here for a little while."

Henry nods. "I'm glad to be here. And, of course, if you think of anything-"

"You'll be the first to know."

Beneath the table, Robin reaches for her hand, giving it a tight little squeeze-and then, as she looks over at him, she sees him grinning at her in that sweet way that always makes her knees a little weak.

They've been down this road more than once before; and they're both confident that it'll all work out. As unconventional as it is, she knows once the shock wears off, the kids will come around. It'll be hard not to get swept up in the excitement, and once the baby's arrived, he or she will be almost impossible to resist.

"So," Robin begins, clearing his throat. "How was the ride up?"

Henry nods, looking to Robin. "Smooth. Comfortable seats, not too much jostling. Everything was on time."

"We made some improvement to the cars."

"It's noticeable," Henry tells him. "So much so that I regret not bringing Ella and Lucy."

"Next time-"

"Absolutely," Henry says. "I like the new route, too."

"Cutting through the countryside and going off those old paths wasn't ideal, but it cut down on travel time, for sure."

"And I'm sure the farmers of that land enjoyed the cheque," Henry quips. "I don't know many who'd have turned down that sum of money."

Regina settles back in her chair as Robin laughs and nods-and both Oliver and Charlotte groan.

"It'd be nice if we could go a day without having to talk about trains," Charlotte says, looking pointedly at Oliver, who nods his agreement.

And then Roland laughs, looking to them as he bites into a dinner roll. "Better than talking about our parents' sex lives, though, isn't it?"

Both she and Robin laugh as Oliver and Charlotte go red-faced, their eyes suddenly wide as they focus down on their dinner plates-and beneath the table, Robin again gives her hand a little squeeze, winking at her before he and Henry resume their relatively boring conversation about laying train tracks and relocating farmers.

Their position is certainly an unconventional one, but in many ways that's fitting for them. They'd never been conventional, and though it's taken her years to embrace that, she finally has. She's no longer willing to make apologies for her choices and fully believes that everything works out the way it's supposed to-after all, it always has.


End file.
